SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Thousands of protesters stormed Bolivia's busiest airport on Friday as rightist opposition groups fought the government of President Evo Morales for control of the country's main air hub."An act of corruption does not justify sending the army," protest leader Branco Marinkovic told Reuters. Bolivia, South America's poorest country, is roughly split along ethnic and economic lines, with the Quechua and Aymara Indians concentrated in the Western highlands, while the eastern plains are home to the mixed-race minority.
At least 7,000 protesters shouting "This is ours" occupied airport hallways and waved flags on the runway. The government withdrew troops that had occupied the airport since Thursday, after airlines complained of corrupt practices.
The airport in the country's wealthy eastern region was shut down for part of Friday due to the protests but restarted operations in the afternoon, local media reported.
The military occupied the airport on government orders after several airlines, including American Airlines
Government officials say the levies were illegal, but Santa Cruz civic leaders argue that sending the army was out of proportion with the problem.
Anti-riot police dispersed protesters with tear gas when they tried to storm the airport on Thursday, but on Friday troops withdrew from the scene.
The dispute is the latest between Morales' leftist government and the right-wing opposition in the Santa Cruz province, the country's agricultural heartland.
Although Morales has strong support among poorer people in Santa Cruz the opposition is strong in the middle- and upper-class.
Many in the city of Santa Cruz, the largest in the country, complain Morales, Bolivia's first president of indigenous descent, is governing only for the majority Indian population, ignoring middle class demands.
Protests have been organized by Marinkovic's Santa Cruz Civic Committee, a powerful group created in the early 1950s to push for more autonomy for the region.
Its leaders want more independence from the Morales administration and a larger share of the country's energy revenues, which have swelled since Morales nationalized the natural-gas rich energy industry last year.
As the government moves forward with an ambitious land reform including plans to expropriate idle land, tensions between Morales and Santa Cruz are increasing. Marinkovic is one of the region's big land owners.
October 20, 2007
Angry protesters take over Bolivian airport
American held over bullets in luggage in Bolivia
LA PAZ, June 28 (Reuters) - An American woman was briefly detained in Bolivia after arriving on an American Airlines flight from Miami with 500 bullets in her luggage, the state news agency reported on Thursday.
News agency ABI said the woman, who it identified as Din Dona Thin, 20, had become nervous when taken to have her bags searched on arrival late on Wednesday, telling staff she was only carrying cheese.
"Last night at El Alto airport, a U.S. citizen was intercepted, coming from Miami, on an American Airlines plane, carrying five boxes of bullets, each one containing 100 .45-caliber bullets," ABI quoted national immigrations director Magaly Zegarra as saying.
A Bolivian judge told reporters the American woman had been released on Thursday because no offense had been committed under the country's laws.
Citing the tight security at U.S. airports, Zegarra said it was "incredible that she was able to pass through with luggage containing five boxes of bullets," ABI reported. It said the official had asked the airline for an explanation.
A U.S. Embassy spokeswoman confirmed in a statement that an American woman had been detained. "There was a lack of knowledge about current customs regulations in Bolivia," the statement said.
